


Taken

by glassesgay



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, It's not descriptive and very brief but still be careful, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 21:48:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassesgay/pseuds/glassesgay
Summary: Deceit gets kidnapped by the Dragon Witch, and he's sure no one will come save him.





	Taken

**Author's Note:**

> Not requested by anyone, but it's based off a post by @5am-the-foxing-hour on Tumblr

Deceit groaned as he forced himself to sit up in bed.  After a long night of little sleep, he had told himself "only five more minutes" for about half an hour before he finally got himself up.  He stretched his arms and grimaced when he felt his joints pop.

He rubbed his eyes and knew there would be dark circles under them.  Last night had been one of pacing, anger, sadness, and anxiety all mixed together.

Last night, Patton was insistent on Deceit joining one of their regular movie nights, proclaiming that he was now "part of the famILY," making sure to emphasize the ILY part.

A few months ago, Deceit had finally grown to speaking terms with the others for Thomas's sake.  But at that point, the others (minus Patton) still didn't trust him, making their interactions forced and awkward.

But after a few agonizing months, the others had grown accustomed to his presence.  They had started to actually  _talk_ to him, holding lasting, normal conversations.  None of that forced pleasantries crap.  This evolved into dinners together and being invited to join them in whatever activities they had planned.

Deceit would usually decline.  He knew Logan, Patton, Roman, and Virgil were dating and he knew they didn't really want him intruding on their time together.  They were just trying to be nice.

Deceit knew that all this was still just for Thomas's sake.  He had been a burden on the other sides for years.  And now that Thomas knew about him, they were being forced to tolerate him.

Deceit didn't mind too much (at least that's what he told himself).  This was something Deceit was familiar with: pretending.

But then Patton said  _that_.  And usually Deceit would brush comments like that off, telling himself they didn't mean it.  But Patton's eyes had been so passionate and determined that Deceit couldn't just brush that off.

Deceit scrambled an excuse together on why he couldn't join before quickly sinking down into his bedroom and "locking" it to where the others couldn't follow.

If everything that had happened in the last few months had actually been genuine, Deceit didn't know how to handle it.

Friendship was such a foreign concept to him.

So after hours of pacing, he eventually convinced himself that Patton didn't really mean it (right?) before falling into a restless sleep.

Deceit involuntarily hissed at the cold as he pushed the blankets off of him.  He swung his legs over the bed and rubbed his eyes.  And when he opened them again, something flashed in the corner of his eye.

He quickly glanced over, but whatever he thought he saw was gone.  Instantly wary, he slowly pushed himself off the bed and went to his bathroom to brush his teeth.  From the bathroom, he thought he heard something in his room and he quickly looked out the door, but again saw nothing.

Deceit slowly made his way back into his room, glancing around him.  But as soon as he made his way to the center, he was hit with a heavy wave of exhaustion.  He couldn't stop himself from collapsing to the floor.

Deceit struggled to push himself up onto his arms, but he was so tired his arms gave out and he fell onto his stomach.  He quickly "unlocked" his room before he lost consciousness.

 

Cold.  That was the first thing Deceit noticed as he woke up.  He was really, really cold.  Deceit tried to move his arms to hug around himself, and a weak jolt of panic shot through his body as he noticed his hands were shackled to the wall above him.  He looked up to try and see but instantly regretted it as his head started to spin.  That's when he noticed how much his head hurt.  He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth as he waited for the spinning to subside, but that didn't stop the throbbing pain concentrated to his temples.

Deceit knew where he was.  He was in the Imagination, the realm Roman controlled.  More specifically, the darker side of the Imagination where Thomas's darker thoughts went.  Roman had a harder time controlling those, as darker thoughts tend to spiral more out of control, but he has done a good job at keeping them at bay.

That doesn't mean a few never break through, though.

He was in the Dragon Witch's lair.  Which Deceit thought was a stupid name, but that's what happens when Thomas and Roman make up a villain at the age of six.

He was broken from his thoughts as he shivered from the cold.  His pajamas were slightly damp from the moisture on the wall behind him, and his socks were completely soaked.  Being cold blooded, if his body temperature grew too low he would get sleepy and lethargic.  He could feel himself growing more tired, and he groggily looked around the room to try and figure a way out of there.

Deceit ignored the disheartened feeling growing in his chest as he saw no way to help himself, but his mind did wander to thoughts of Roman coming to help.  He quickly pushed those thoughts aside.  Like all his problems, he knew he would have to get himself out of this alone.

He weakly tried to push himself into a standing position, but his legs quickly gave out from under him, making him fall and slamming his back against the wall.  He hissed as all of his weight was forced back onto his shackled wrists.

Hitting the wall had knocked the breath out of him, and his shortness of breath only worsened his drowsiness.  He started to drift off again.  He tried his damndest not to succumb, but he was so weak and his head was so fogged up that it was difficult.  He tried to form a plan to escape but he was so, so tired.

He couldn't fall asleep in a cold environment like this.  He didn't know how he would wake up.

Deceit started to blink rapidly and he dug his sharp nails into his palms until he felt blood drip down his wrists.  Growing desperate, he tried to make himself stand again, but that was a mistake as he just fell against the wall again, the strain making him even more tired.

Eventually, he lost the battle and he felt himself start to drift off.

" _At least it's me and not the others,_ " Deceit thought.

Deceit would usually tell himself he didn't care about the others, nor did he need them.  He was fine in solitude.  Stronger, even, when he didn't worry himself over the welfare of anyone else.  He was perfectly content being by himself.

But right now, he was too tired to even try to lie to himself.

And with that thought in mind, Deceit fell back into unconsciousness.

 

Deceit blinked in confusion as he woke up again.  Where was he??

...Oh yeah.

Deceit noticed a figure standing in front of him.  He blinked until his vision cleared up, and there she was.  The Dragon Witch.

At least she was in her humanoid form.  That helped even the odds a little bit.

Deceit refused to admit he was only pretending that the odds were even  _slightly_ in his favor.

"Finally.  We need to talk," she said in her low, surly voice as she used the end of her scepter to lift Deceit's chin.

As Deceit became more aware, he noticed that he was just a bit warmer.  She must have had to warm him a bit to get him to wake up, but  _Jesus_ , it still wasn't enough.

"You're close to Prince Roman, no?"

Deceit opened his mouth to snap out a lie before pausing and realizing he didn't even know the answer himself.

The Dragon Witch's eyebrows furrowed together.

"You aren't, are you?"

Deceit said nothing.

"Well, I was hoping to draw him here to you," the Dragon Witch started.

So she was using him to draw Roman into her lair.  Deceit could have laughed, had he had any energy.  He was sure the others hadn't even noticed he was missing.  They were probably relieved they hadn't had to deal with him for most of the day (Wait, was it still the same day?  How much time has passed?  Deceit had no way to tell).  They probably were  _hoping_ he didn't come back.  With him gone, they would no longer have to deal with this charade they've been playing for the last few months.  Things would go back to the way they were, except now they wouldn't have to worry about Deceit popping up anymore.

"But I can always let you go if you help me with one little thing," the Dragon Witch finished.

She bent down and grabbed Deceit's face, forcing him to look her in the eye with sharp nails digging into his skin.

" _How do I break Prince Roman_?"

How do you break romance and creativity?  Take away everything he loves and use his insecurities against him, of course.

But there was no way in hell Deceit would tell her that.

The Dragon Witch was quickly growing irate with Deceit's silence.  She pushed Deceit's face away, slamming his head into the wall as she stood up and pointed her scepter towards him.

" _I have ways of making you talk_."

Deceit's head lolled to the floor.  Him getting his head pushed to the wall brought back his dizziness.  He barely processed what she had said.  And despite everything happening, he was growing sleepy again, the cold overtaking him.

He felt himself start to fall back into unconsciousness, but then he heard the Dragon Witch muttering something and he was snapped wide awake.

Pain.

Pain overtook his body as his muscles clenched and his mouth fell open.  He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed his nails back into his palms, reopening barely-closed puncture wounds.  His back arched and he felt his head slam against the wall, but he barely noticed it this time.

He wanted to scream until his throat was raw.  He wanted to cry and yell and try to get at least  _some_ tension out of his body.

But he refused to let her know how much it was affecting him, so he snapped his eyes open and looked her dead on.

Anger flashed over her face as she held her scepter up again.  She was about to say something when the door behind her swung violently open.

The pain stopped and Deceit fell.  A jolt of pain went through his wrists as they were once again pushed against the shackles holding him but god, he didn't care.

His vision went blurry.  He felt the exhaustion fall back over him quick and heavy, and this time he didn't even try to fight it.

He heard yelling and the sounds of metal clashing against metal.  He opened his eyes to try and see what was happening but everything was still blurry.

For a moment, Deceit thought he saw Roman fighting the Dragon Witch but... Roman wouldn't... he couldn't...

Deceit then noticed the figure standing next to him.  He squeezed his eyes shut again, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen to him.

Then one of his hands was free.  Pain jolted through the other as all his weight was shifted onto it.   Deceit barely noticed the pain, however, as he wrapped his free arm around himself, hoping for any sort of warmth.

The other hand was freed and Deceit tried to catch himself from falling, but his legs were so weak he quickly gave up.

Before Deceit could hit the floor, someone quickly caught him against their chest.  The person who caught him quickly placed an arm under his knees and under chest and lifted Deceit into their arms.

Deceit didn't even care who was holding him.  They were so warm that Deceit quickly pushed himself as close to this person as possible.

Deceit took a deep breath and was hit with the smell of black licorice and ink.

_Oh_.  He was in  _Virgil's_ arms.

But that didn't make sense.  Virgil didn't... He wouldn't...

Deceit had no time to finish the thought before he fell back into unconsciousness.

 

Roman was fucking  _pissed_.

He was used to the Dragon Witch's games.  He actually found them entertaining, mostly.  This villain who Roman repeatedly defeated but kept coming back.  It was almost admirable.  But to kidnap and hurt one of his loved ones made something inside Roman snap.  So when he defeated her this time, he made sure that it would be a long,  _long_ time before she came back.

Roman had to lead them out of the dark part of the Imagination before he would be able to take them back into his bedroom.  The fact his powers were weakened here had never bothered him so much before.

That morning, Patton had grown concerned once Deceit didn't come down for breakfast.  Logan and Roman assured him that Deceit was probably fine; he was the heaviest sleeper out of all of them, after all.

Roman felt really guilty about that now.

A couple more hours passed and Patton's worry grew.  Virgil offered to go check on him in his bedroom.  Virgil arrived not a minute later, eyes wide and panicked.  Logan, Patton, and Roman quickly went into Deceit's room, but Deceit wasn't there.

Roman instantly recognized the air of dark magic in Deceit's room.  The others couldn't notice it, but Roman knew exactly where Deceit was.

It took a lot of begging and a sharp look from Logan before Roman agreed to let the other three come, but now Roman was glad he did.  That fight really did him in, and he was glad Virgil was there to carry Deceit and he was grateful for Logan's arm around his waist to support him.

He wasn't so glad about Patton crying the whole way back.  After Roman felt he didn't need Logan's help anymore, Logan carried Patton for the rest of the trek home.

Once they arrived back in Roman's room, he didn't want to wait to get Deceit down to the commons or back to his room, so he said Deceit could sleep in his bed for now.

Roman and Virgil held Deceit up as Patton took off his wet pajamas.  Logan went to grab the first aid kit to tend to his bleeding palms and wrists.

Patton went to Roman's wardrobe and grabbed a long-sleeved pajama shirt, a sweater, and Roman's fluffiest fleece pajama pants.  Roman usually never let anyone borrow them, but now was an exception.

Logan tended to Deceit's arm before Roman laid Deceit down onto his bed and wrapped him in plenty of blankets.

Now that that was all done, all they could do was wait for him to wake up.  And that was the hardest part.

 

Deceit woke up disoriented and still extremely tired.  He blinked his eyes open, but immediately just wanted to close them again.

"Dee!" he heard someone exclaim.  He looked over towards to source to see Patton beaming at him.

Patton was sitting on one side of the large bed with Roman next to him and Logan with Virgil on the other side.

"What's going on?" Deceit asked in a rough voice.  "Where am I?"

This must be Roman's room if the ostentatious decor suggested anything.

"You're in Roman's room," Patton confirmed as he gently placed a hand on Deceit's forehead.  "How are you feeling?"

"Not okay," Deceit replied.  Why wouldn't he be okay?

"We were really worried about you," Patton said as Deceit laid his head back on the pillow.  Why would they be worried about him?  He was fine.  What were they talking about?

He fell asleep again soon after his head touched the pillow.

 

Deceit woke up to someone slowly running their fingers through his hair.  He leaned into the touch slightly as he blinked his eyes open.  Patton had moved to sit behind him and Deceit was reclining on his chest.  Virgil was sitting next to Patton and the two of them were watching Roman and Logan.

Roman was sitting shirtless on the side of the bed with Logan tending to his injuries.  Deceit winced as he saw a deep gash on Roman's side.  Did Roman get that while fighting the Dragon Witch?  Why would he put himself in harm's way just to save  _him_?

"This is all my fault," Roman muttered angrily.  None of them noticed he was awake yet.  "If I had only been more careful, then the Witch never would have been able to-"

"It isn't your fault, Roman," Patton interrupted softly.

"Roman, stop fidgeting," Logan said sternly as he unrolled some bandages.  "And Patton is correct.  We know you work diligently to keep the darker part of the Imagination contained.  You did all you could have done.  There was no way you could have known she would do this."

"What if he doesn't wake up again?" Virgil asked as he tightened his grip on the bed sheets.  His voice was on the verge of becoming distorted.  "What if the Dragon Witch cursed him or something and he-"

"He'll be okay," Patton whispered and his voice broke, a sure sign that he was going to cry.  Patton placed the hand that wasn't carding through Deceit's hair on Virgil's leg.

Deceit sat in shock.  Were they all this upset over  _him_??  They couldn't be.  Deceit didn't know how to handle it if they were.

Because if they were this upset over him, then that means everything they said over the past few months were true.  And that thought was scary.

Surely they were just upset that that they had to take time out of their day to save him, right?  They were angry that Roman had to get hurt because of him.  They were upset Deceit was taken away so easily, almost getting himself killed.  And if he got killed, that would be a horrible detriment to Thomas.  That's what they were upset about, right?

"If she cursed Deceit," Roman growled.  "Then that Dragon  _Bitch_ is going to rue the day she-"

"If something is ailing Deceit, we'll find a way to rehabilitate him," Logan interrupted.  "But right now, he just needs to rest.

Logan's voice was shaky.  Logan's voice was never shaky.

Was that... fear?  In  _Logan's_ voice?

Deceit took a shaky breath.  That got the other's attention as they all looked at him.

"Dee!" Roman said at the same time as Virgil.  Roman went to move towards him but Logan held him still to finish wrapping the bandage around him and to get a shirt on him.

"Oh, we were so worried about you!" Patton exclaimed as he helped Deceit sit up before wrapping his arms around Deceit's torso and burying his face in the back of Deceit's neck.

"You were?" Deceit asked.  He tried to sound bored and indifferent, but he couldn't help the break in his already weak voice.

They all frowned and glanced at each other.

"Of course we were," Virgil said.  Patton's grip around Deceit tightened.

"You are a valued member of this 'team', Deceit," Logan said as he went around to sit on the other side of Deceit.  "If anything were to happen to you, we would be... most distressed."

"We care about you, kiddo," Patton whispered.

That was it for Deceit.

They really cared.  They  _actually_ cared.

Deceit let out a sob.

"What's wrong, my dear?" Roman asked as he reached for Deceit's hands.  "Tell me, and whatever distresses you, I will destroy it."

Deceit shook his head.

"I'm not okay," he said.  But his shaky words said otherwise.

"Oh, honey," Patton murmured as he let Deceit turn and bury his face into his chest.  "We've got you."

Logan moved from his spot on the edge of the bed and sat on the other side of Patton while Roman went to the other side of Virgil.

"Deceit," Logan said once Deceit moved his face away from Patton's chest. "We all hold a great fondness and infatuation for you.  As you know, we are in a quad polyamorous relationship, and-"

"We love you," is what Specs is trying to say," Roman said as he lifted a hand gently moved Deceit's face so he could look at him.   "And we've wanted to ask you to join us for a very long time."

Deceit couldn't stop the tears that rolled down his face.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I hate you all so freaking much," he sobbed out as he buried his head into his hands.  The others were quick to reach out to soothe him.

"So will you?" Virgil asked nervously.  "You don't have to.  We don't want you to feel like we're pressuring you or-"

"Of course I won't, you idiot," Deceit said.  Virgil smiled at him and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on Deceit's forehead.

They held him until he was finished crying.  Once his crying had devolved into soft sniffling, Logan summoned a bottle of water.

"Here.  We don't want you to get dehydrated," he said.  Deceit muttered (no) thanks as he took it.

"How about we go down to the commons?" Roman asked.  "I'll make us tea and we can relax with some movies."

"Oh, could we?" Patton asked as he looked at the others, eyes bright and excited.

"I'm down," Virgil said.

"I guess I am 'down' as well," Logan said.

Patton looked down at Deceit with such a hopeful smile, Deceit couldn't say no even if he wanted to.

"That doesn't sound good to me," Deceit said.

Deceit soon found himself sandwiched between Virgil and Roman with Patton on the other side of Virgil and Logan on the other side of Roman.  Roman was soon singing along to the songs before arguing with Logan on the logistics of the movie.  ("It doesn't  _need_ to make sense, Logan.  It's Disney!"

Deceit curled himself even more into Virgil's side and sighed happily as Virgil tightened his arm around him.  He didn't have to lie to himself about this anymore.  He no longer had to pretend he didn't care.  He no longer had to carry the burden of feeling unwanted.  The only thing he had to carry now was the love between him and the others, and god, was that a welcome change.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Requests are open on my Tumblr imlovethomassanders. If you liked this then check out my other works and thank you for reading <3


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